In 1910, the 102nd Annual Magician’s Con­sor­tium was hosted in Prague, but, for rea­sons pre­vi­ously unknown, the event was never held again. Minu­tiae has uncov­ered a radio trans­mis­sion from the event filed by intre­pid cor­re­spon­dent Pippa Edi­son, and presents here a tran­script of her report for a look at what would ulti­mately be the last Annual Magician’s Consortium.

PIPPA EDISON: As you can clearly hear behind me, it’s all hus­tle and bus­tle at the 102nd Annual Magician’s Con­sor­tium. What began in 1808 as a pri­vate gath­er­ing of six­teen pres­tidig­i­ta­tors has grown sub­stan­tially over the years, and is now con­sid­ered the world’s largest magic event, draw­ing over 150 magi­cians and thou­sands of magic fans from forty-seven countries.

Join­ing me now is Thomas Hen­nemore, the head of the gov­ern­ing body of the Con­sor­tium, the Board of Illu­sion. Mr. Hen­nemore, what can vis­i­tors expect from this year’s Consortium?

THOMAS HENNEMORE: Well, Pippa, that’s the beauty of a magic show. The only thing you can expect…is the unexpected!

THOMAS HENNEMORE: She may appear to be a dove, but don’t be fooled. In truth, she is…a phoenix!

PIPPA EDISON: [yelps]

THOMAS HENNEMORE: No need to be alarmed! When magic is on your side, any­thing, even a flame…can be captured!

PIPPA EDISON: [applauds] Unbelievable!

THOMAS HENNEMORE: Thank you.

PIPPA EDISON: Mr. Hen­nemore, much has been made of the infa­mous Mobius Trick. Can you tell us a bit about it?

THOMAS HENNEMORE: Yes, the Mobius Trick was cre­ated in 1817 by Edmund Ver­rig, the first head of the Board of Illu­sion. Many called it the most com­plex illu­sion ever cre­ated, and Ver­rig responded to the acco­lades with a chal­lenge: any­one able to fig­ure out how the trick is per­formed would become the next head of the Board of Illu­sion. It took thirty-six years for some­one to come to Edmund with a solu­tion. The Board of Illu­sion has been deter­min­ing its pre­sid­ing mem­ber in the same way since.

PIPPA EDISON: And you’ve now been the head of the Board for twenty-three years?

PIPPA EDISON: While Mr. Hen­nemore pre­pares for his per­for­mance, the last audi­ence mem­bers are find­ing their seats. It cer­tainly is a full house for this cen­ter­piece illu­sion, one not likely to be for­got­ten by any man, woman, or child here today.

[vio­lin strings keen]

PIPPA EDISON: Ah, it looks like Mr. Hen­nemore is tak­ing the stage.

THOMAS HENNEMORE: Ladies and gen­tle­men, in accor­dance with tra­di­tion, I present: the Mobius Trick.

What you are about to see is a feat of dar­ing. A defi­ance of death. I will bend the very laws of nature to my will!